A giant female Golden Orb Web Spider on a Web (Nephila maculata) building its web between trees on the grounds of the Singapore Zoo (not in an exhibit). This speciman has a body length of almost 50mm and legs extending well beyond that. The yellow spots on the leg joints is very distinctive in this species.
This large spider is also known worldwide as a Giant Wood Spider, and the yellow tinged web is made of what is considered the strongest spider silk in the world - capable of entangling unlucky birds in some cases (which the spider does not eat). These trapped creatures often destroy the web by thrashing around. To avoid such damage, the spider often leaves a line of insect husks on its web or builds smaller barrier webs around the main web.
The Japanese consider spiders to be lucky if seen during the daytime, unlucky if seen at night. They are only moderately poisonous, though their bite is painful due to the size of the fangs.